symbiosis » levi ackerman

chapter one ; meetings.

It was a Sunday morning, and the air was clean and crisp. Dew had settled on the grass of the Trost Survey Corps base. Fallan sighed and rested her head against the dark oak of the window frame, and watched as a cloud lazily drifted across the sky.
"Where did I put that notebook?" Hanji wailed and pushed her glasses up just above her forehead, pinching the bridge of her nose. Fallan didn't bother to turn her head, and kept her gaze fixated on the skyline, choosing to ignore her. She was used to the eccentric ways of her Captain.
"Have you tried looking for it Specs?" came Levi's familiar drawl, and Fallan rolled her eyes. She had engaged in a few conversations with him, and hated the majority of them. She had never met a man so far up his own arse.
He had positioned himself against the doorway, teacup in hand and an uninterested expression plastered on his face. Fallan turned to face him.
"Captain," she nodded as a sign of recognition. Levi simply waved his hand in a disapproving manner.
"Please, enough with the formalities." He grumbled and took a seat near Hanji. It was clear Levi hadn't adjusted to the titles that came with his promotion. It had been a number of months since he'd gained his role as Captain, yet was still unfamiliar with the name. Hanji chuckled and rested against the oak wood table.
Fallan was unsure of her opinion towards the short raven haired male, however Hanji had taken a liking to him. Fallan found him tolerable at the best of times, but his short temper and irritability made her wary around him. He didn't seem to have many friends in the Survey Corps after the two he'd arrived with had died on an expedition many months ago along with the leader of their squad Flagon Turret, so he found entertainment in annoying Hanji during his free time.
"You smell like shit." Levi muttered as he took a sip of his tea, staring at Hanji over the brim of the teacup. Fallan raised a disapproving eyebrow, while Hanji shot a large grin at him.
"No time to bathe, I'm on the brink of a scientific break through!"
Levi looked disgusted and set his tea down, picking up a leather bound notebook. He threw it in Hanji's direction.
"Found your 'damned notebook' , " he mimicked.
"Actually," Fallan spoke calmly, a slight hint of passive-aggressiveness evident in her tone, "that would be mine."
Levi glanced over to Fallan, his steel-grey eyes meeting her's for a fleeting second, before darting away almost sheepishly. He offered no apology. Hanji chuckled again and picked up the notebook that had landed by her foot, and threw it back at Levi - hitting him square in the back of the head. Levi scowled and grabbed the book, flicking through the pages. Fallan thought about protesting, but didn't want to irritate him any further.
"Life beyond the walls, eh? And here I thought any talk of that was illegal." he glanced back at Fallan, "you don't strike me as the law-breaking type."
Fallan quickly paced her way over to him, taking the notebook from his hands and closing it carefully. One thing she hated more than rudeness was people looking at her research.
"I'm not the law-breaking type Captain, I'm the curious type." she said, meeting his eyes. "Besides, it's all theoretical. Just bits and pieces I've picked up from books."
"You shouldn't be leaving things like that lying around. You ought to be more careful, else you'll wind up rotting in the King's cells without a pot to piss in." Levi said as he took another sip of his tea, not breaking eye contact, a mischievous glint in his eye, but his expression remained stony. Fallan resisted the urge to tut or roll her eyes at his crude words, instead nodded and tucked the notebook into her pocket, resuming her position by the window. Hanji huffed and shuffled her feet.
"If you two could stop bickering and help me find my notebook, it'd be much appreciated. I don't know if you heard, but I was on the brink of a scientific break through and I-" she began, but was cut off by Levi throwing yet another notebook at her. Instead of landing at her feet, this one hit her on the forehead. Hanji began screeching, so Fallan took it as her cue to leave.
"If you'll excuse me Captain, I have a meeting with Benjin at noon." she said and sent Hanji a warm smile. Her smile faltered slightly when her gaze moved over to Levi, who was looking at her with his usual disinterested expression. "Captain Levi, a pleasure as always."
She nodded at him again and left the room quickly. Levi exhaled and reached for his teacup.
"That lieutenant of yours, she always that uptight? Or has she got a stick up her ass?"
Hanji rubbed her forehead and took a seat opposite Levi.
"Fallan's not uptight, she just doesn't like you."